


When the Masks Come Off

by dreamsheartstory



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-31
Updated: 2014-10-31
Packaged: 2018-02-22 00:54:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2488430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamsheartstory/pseuds/dreamsheartstory
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a masquerade ball and a glamour keeps everyone's identities secret but Regina and Ruby find each other anyway.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When the Masks Come Off

**Author's Note:**

> For Day 7 of [Red Queen Week 2014](http://redqueenweek.tumblr.com/). Prompt : Magic  
> 

 

Regina leaned against the drinks table surveying the room. The night was, at the very least, interesting. Storybrooke was dressed to the nines for a modern day ball, and masked. When they entered tonight they had left their names at the door, literally. A glamour enchanted the hall, no names could be spoken, no nicknames, and every masked face appeared different to the onlooker. The magic allowed them anonymity in an attempt help the town come together, or that was the idea. She sighed. There had been so many attempts to promote peace and cooperation it was nauseating. Mary Margaret’s optimism was spreading like a disease. While Regina was a reformed, less evil, version of her formal evil self, she was a far cry from the smiling do-gooder.

It was easy enough to spot some people, Emma, Mary Margaret, David. Even glamoured their essence shown through– but the majority of the crowd faded into anonymity, which was exactly what the Charming family had decided the town needed. Anonymity allowed for people to set aside their expectations of people, so that perhaps their judgement wouldn’t cloud the way they perceived each other. Having all lived two lives now that the curse was broken, no one was really who they once were. So in this effort to unite the town and tear down the class boundaries brought over from Fairy Tale Land, the people had voted on a masquerade ball on Halloween, heavily enchanted of course. What would a masked ball be without magic. If any sense of cohesion lasted past tonight she would be surprised. People were more forgiving when they couldn’t see your face, no one wanted to say the wrong thing to the wrong person because tomorrow the masks would come off. Regina had already scared off several unwitting fools.

A taller woman brushed past Regina, smiling shyly as she reached for a glass of champagne. Her dress was a deep red etched with black and cut dangerously low down her back. An ornate red and black lace mask covered face. Regina watched, noticing the woman’s slender fingers as they wrapped around the flute. She had watched those hands deftly carry food at Granny’s for 30 years. Ruby. The brunette in the blood red dress was Ruby. Of course it was. Red really was her color.

Tonight would be a perfect excuse to have a little fun. She had long thought about the werewolf’s dark nature, wondering what she would be like if she ever left Mary Margaret’s side long enough to have a little fun. Ruby would have been, would still be, an excellent ally. More than that though, Regina had always found the other woman alluring. A mischievous smile spread over Regina’s face. Stepping up behind the taller woman she breathed in her scent, “You look absolutely stunning tonight.”

“Who’s to say I don’t look stunning every night, Madame Mayor?” Ruby feigned false bravado and managed to get around the glamour’s main injunction: no names. They were all supposed to be on equal footing, their identities left at the door, but it was impossible to not know Regina’s voice. The deep purr that emanated from the mayor’s throat tightened things low on her body. She looked forward to the days the Mayor stopped by the diner, however many mistakes she tended to make. It was a constant source of conflict, being drawn to the one person her best friend hated the most. Without turning around she knew it was Regina. She could feel the heat from the other woman’s body as the mayor stood closer than was proper. The proximity excited her.

“I never said you didn’t. I’ve always enjoyed your outfits at the diner.” Regina husked against the werewolf’s ear before turning her attention back to the party and the other guests. She blended into the crowd before the taller woman could turn around. Ruby nearly dropped her champagne. 

She had not expected Regina to recognize her, let alone care enough to actually speak to her. Their banter at the diner was friendly enough, but they had never talked. Not when someone’s life wasn’t on the line, when the town wasn’t falling apart at the seams, not back in Fairy Tale Land where Red had been nothing but a lonely wolf, confused and scared until she made friends with Snow White. 

Since the day the curse broke she had been searching for the words to tell Regina thank you. That however rebellious and unhappy Ruby had been under the curse she had been with her grandmother, and she hadn’t known the pain of having killed the people she loved. Ruby hadn’t known the pain of changing into the wolf and blacking out, or worrying if she would do something she regretted by morning. Regina had taken the bad from her life. There were not words for the kind of gratitude she felt. She wasn’t even certain if Regina would listen, as she was such a close friend to Mary Margaret and David. Time had started to change things though. That much was clear. Ruby was not the doe-eyed girl that Red had been once.

“Really? Red? I thought we were supposed to go incognito tonight,” Emma sidled up to Ruby at the drinks table.

“But are you sure it’s me? There’s some very strong glamour going on in here tonight.” Ruby cocked her head and looked at the blond who was all at once familiar and not. She wasn’t entirely sure who she was speaking to, yet.

Emma laughed, “Yeah, I’m sure it’s you. Only you do that thing with your head. What did Re- argh. I hate not being able to say names, my son’s other mother want?”

Emma. She was talking with Emma. “Oh, that was, um, her? Nothing. Nothing worth mentioning.” Ruby looked away, taking a sip of champagne.

“She was awful close for nothing.”

“Probably a case of mistaken identity. I imagine that’s going to be a reoccurring theme tonight.” Ruby downed her glass of champagne and reached for another.

“Easy there, the night is just beginning.”

“Exactly.” Ruby turned and leaned against the table next to Emma, “Aside from me and, uh, her, have you figured out who anyone is yet? It’s overwhelming seeing faces that look familiar but not, voices that don’t match the mouths they are coming from, even smell is mixed up with some people. No one feels right.” 

“I hadn’t noticed,” Emma said. 

In truth it was absolutely torture for the werewolf. Everything and everyone was mixed together, the glamour changing different aspects of each person, so while one person would almost look like themselves their scent would be wrong, or they sounded right but looked entirely different. Ruby felt like she might drown in sensory overload. And then there was Regina.

Regina had cut through the chaos, and even though she had looked wrong and smelled wrong her voice had remained unchanged to Ruby’s ears. Instead of the normal nervous fear she felt calm. Following after her, continuing the flirtation would be fun, the glamour would allow them a certain anonymity even though they had identified each other. If they were careful, no one would ever know. She could say all the things she had been meaning to tell Regina. If Mary Margaret ever found out though, it could ruin their friendship. Despite the fact that they were family now Mary Margaret was apprehensive about the former Evil Queen. And while she did try to support her for Henry’s sake, Ruby believed that Mary Margaret would never truly forgive her. There was too much that had transpired between them.

“You alright there?”

“Huh?”

“I was saying that I found my parents, and you just kind of went blank.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

Ruby and Emma made there way down into the crowd. Moreover, Ruby followed Emma, not wanting to have to concentrate on the overwhelming senses that assailed her. She found them moving from cluster of people to cluster of people. Only half paying attention to conversation she was surrounded by. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of black and purple, the colors Regina had been wearing. 

Regina was an enigma. The no longer quite as evil Evil Queen, was still on the wrong side of most of Storybrooke. Long years had bred layers of distrust not so easily washed away. Ruby was one of the few that stood by her, even if the other woman never knew. The werewolf felt a kinship with her, a darkness that had never really left her, despite her years in Snow’s shadow.

Mary Margaret and David believed in the good in Ruby. They had shown her she was more than the wolf inside her, but the wolf was still her, and it never did fit well with their goodness, their ideals. There was a part of her that was darker, more ruthless, more willing to compromise morals to protect the things and people she cared for. Or at least more willing to admit those compromises. Following them as long as she had felt like denying a part of herself. She may be a good person, kind and sweet and capable of love, but Ruby existed in a dichotomy. The wolf would never let her be anything else. The wolf desired darker things.

“There is a line that just can’t be crossed.”

“You’re either good or evil, it’s simple.”

“People can change though. Not everyone is always going to be a bundle of light and goodness.”

The werewolf looked at the people before her talking. There was a chance they were friends, a chance they were people she hardly knew, but it was impossible to tell. A line of warmth appeared at her side, the figure clad in black and purple. Ruby looked away, not wanting to confuse her senses and waited for the other woman to talk. She could feel Regina’s heartbeat slow and steady beside her.

“Enjoying your evening, wolf?”

“It’s tiring.”

“That’s unfortunate, there are so many more interesting ways to tire one’s self out,” the woman husked against the shell of her ear. Her breath was warm and sweet with the wine in her hand.

“What do you have in mind?” She turned but the woman was gone again, vanished into the crowd.

“Who was that?” Emma, or perhaps it might be Belle, someone vaguely familiar asked.

“I’m not sure,” Ruby lied. What was Regina playing at?

The night continued with much of he same. At one point she had thought she had found Belle, only to lose her friend when the glamour’s magic had broken up how someone smelled and felt so completely that she had to escape to the bathroom for a short while to compose herself. For a moment she was alone, silence ringing in her ears, almost as overwhelming as the chaos out in the hall.

Footsteps echoed outside the door way, and Ruby could hear several women debating loudly. She ducked into one of the stalls, not wanting to interact. Maybe if she couldn’t see anyone her senses wouldn’t know to be so confused and her head would stop swimming. This was worse than being fall down black out drunk and not nearly as fun.

“I’m just saying that there are a lot of people in this town that have done a lot of questionable things in the past. I’m not sure they should be the ones making all the decisions moving forward.”

“Surely, but who else would dare to step up, or to speak out against any of them?”

“There are people in this town who do good, do the right thing no matter what. You know who I’m talking about.”

“Yes, we can count on _them_ to keep the monsters in check.”

“We really should have sent all the monsters back to Fairy Tale Land, let them fend for themselves without the comforts of electricity and indoor plumbing.”

“There’s really no reason we should be allowing those killers to roam free.”

Ruby’s heart sank, certain that she was one of the monsters the woman had been referring to. The conversation continued as the women left, but she didn’t want to hear it. Waiting for a few minutes she made her way back out into the hall, maybe she could find someone she knew again. She worked her way through the crowd, trying not to focus on any one person but instead scenting for a familiar sound, a familiar smell. A moment of clarity. None came.

Voices raised in an argument, good versus evil, someone arguing that there is no in between. The ends only justify the means for the good, whoever decides what good is, is another thing. The raised voices assaulted the werewolf’s senses. Everyone smelled wrong, their scents mixed up, and clearly masked by magic. They seemed to change appearance each time she turned around. She was dizzy and seeing double. For a moment she wondered if her head would explode with how much it was pounding.

“Are you okay?” Someone asked, a familiar someone. Ruby blinked and lost the clue to who had asked. She needed out of the hall, all pretense of supporting this ridiculous idea gone from her mind. Mary Margaret would never be able to tell she had left anyway.

“No. Not entirely,” Ruby glanced up in time to see the dark haired woman in the black and purple gown that she was sure was Regina look back one last time before slipping outside onto the balcony. Earlier Regina had been clarity, a breath of fresh air in the chaos. Her feet started moving before she had made the decision.

“I need some air,” She raised her glass of champagne to her lips then set it down on a nearby table without taking a sip. She wanted to be lucid when she walked out that door and her senses were compromised enough as it was. If she had any chance at things going well, she would need her wits to keep up with the sharp tongued older woman. Walking out that door would change everything.

Halloween this year had fallen on a night barely lit by the moon and the courage the wolf usually afforded her was at its weakest. Taking a deep breath she pushed through the crowd. At the very least, if she had read Regina wrong, she could pretend that the glamour had tricked her into thinking she had been flirting with someone else. It wouldn’t be so hard to believe that Ruby would leave a party with a random someone, especially given her cursed self’s reputation. If she was wrong, she didn’t want it getting out that she had thought far too long about playing for the other side, that Snow White’s wolf wanted the Evil Queen. More than that, she understood the darkness. Not that Regina was as evil as she once had been, but there was a kindred spark between them. 

The air was cold and crisp sitting just above freezing, so cold it felt like a slap in the face, but welcomed one. The nauseating feeling the glamour left in her head slipped away almost instantly as if it had never been there. Skin on her bare arms and back prickled and covered in goose bumps immediately despite her higher than normal body temperature. She let out a gasp, “It’s freezing out here.”

“How very astute of you,” Regina turned and leaned against the balcony. She had taken off her mask, but had the forethought to grab her shawl, or maybe she had simply magicked one into being.

Ruby was left facing the mayor without even a hint of a doubt. Maybe it wasn’t the cold that had left her feeling so clear headed. She found herself frozen to the spot, staring at the face she had been envisioning all night. Full lips painted a deep scarlet, eyes fierce, and yet when she looked at Ruby her features softened. Ruby’s heart sped up, thumping against her rib cage. There would be no talking her way out of this, no glamour, no magic to blame for a mistaken identity. For the first time they could see each other. 

“How did you break the spell? I thought the masks couldn’t come off. The glamour won’t wear off until midnight.”

“The glamour doesn’t extend to this balcony,” Regina said, “A reprieve from tonight’s experiment.” She let her mask fall to the ground.

Ruby reached for her mask and it fell away from her face easily. She dropped it next to Regina’s discarded one. “It is interesting to never quite know who you are talking with, to not know if they’re dropping hints at who they are or who they want you to think you are. It’s also overwhelming. The magic tonight wrecked havoc,” Ruby tapped her temple, pausing before stepping towards the mayor, “But you weren’t part of that chaos, you seemed to know who I was from the first moment. How? More importantly, why?”

“Not from the first moment, it wasn’t until I saw your hands that I was certain. Though you knew who I was without even looking.” Regina smirked, pleased with the idea that Ruby had known her. “What was it?”

Ruby shook her head and bit her lip, afraid to say that in truth the sound of her voice did things to her. That having Regina’s breath against her ear whispering compliments had left her in a state. Or that she had spent the entire evening trying to suss out exactly what the older woman was after because even that confusion had been a calm moment in the storm tonight.

“I only had the power of observation. Thirty years you’ve been serving me food at that diner. Thirty years of me watching your hands deftly move and wondering what else those fingers were capable of. What gave me away?” Ruby went pale and Regina laughed. “What brought you out here little wolf?”

The chaos had left, her mind no longer assaulted by conflicting senses. Clarity. Even unsure, this moment was the clearest things had been all night. And maybe that’s why she stayed, despite the risk. Watching the woman in front of her, her bosom rising and falling with each breath, black and purple material hugging her figure, red lips slightly parted, waiting for an answer, Ruby felt calm. The cold washed away the nausea, and threw her thoughts into a sharp relief.

The mayor made her nervous. Other people she scared, but Ruby had always felt nervous. Thankful, protective, but nervous. She had never known how Regina would feel if Ruby had ever truly tried to befriend her, or if she had acted on her desire. Because if Ruby had turned to the Evil Queen, her life would never be the same. In keeping to herself Ruby could pretend she still followed Mary Margaret and David blindly, that she stood on the side of their brand of good. These last few years had proved that good and evil were not so black and white. The dividing line the townsfolk threw down left a sour taste in her mouth. Red had been desperate to be good and pure, Ruby wasn’t so sure. Neither side had made it through the last few years unblemished. With Regina at least, she knew her thoughts and feelings were her own.

She could feel an inexplicable pull to be closer to the other woman, and the way Regina was smiling as if she knew the words Ruby was afraid to say. “You’re voice, if you must know.” She shivered, running her hands along her bare arms. “Even with the glamour I could hear you.”

“Come here,” Regina opened up her shawl and gestured for the taller woman to join her underneath it. Stealing her resolve she took three decisive steps forward and found herself face to face with the other woman. Ruby had opted for shorter heels, while Regina’s were ridiculously tall leaving them nearly the same height. Regina wrapped her arms around Ruby and drew her in closer. Their faces were close enough she could feel Regina’s breath as she spoke, “Better?”

Ruby nodded an assent, letting herself relax a little into the embrace. Not knowing what to do with her hands she let them rest on Regina’s waist. She enjoyed being able to feel Regina’s breath, her heartbeat. After all this time imagining what the older woman would feel like beneath her hands she was that much closer. The shawl hung heavy on her shoulders creating a cocoon of warmth. 

“I know we haven’t always been on the same side of things. What with you being Mary Margaret’s … friend.” Regina let the implication hang on the air.

Afraid to admit anything she started to push away, “I shouldn’t have come out here.”

Regina held her firm, but when Ruby stopped backing up she loosened her grip letting the other know she was free to go if that’s what she truly wanted. “Why?”

“Because,” Ruby looked away from the other woman’s piercing gaze, unable, and unwilling to form the words that felt like betrayal.

“Because of Mary Margaret? Is your loyalty to her so binding that you can’t chose your own friends? Your own lovers?” Regina asked, tipping Ruby’s chin back so the were eye to eye again. She shivered at what those questions implied.

“Mary Margaret is one of my best friends. I, I don’t want people to get the wrong idea.”

“That what? That you’re dark? Evil? Is that all you see me as? I’ve heard what people have been saying tonight.”

“No! I mean, you’re not not good, but you aren’t evil. Not anymore. It’s not like I’m all that good either.”

“You do make a valiant effort, always lapping at the heels of the Charming family. You would have so much more fun if you came with me, rather than being Mary Margaret’s pet for the rest of your life.”

Ruby shot Regina a scathing look. “I am _not_ her pet.” Regina quirked an eyebrow in response. 

“You come running when she calls.”

“I do not,” Ruby paused. “Not always.” Though Regina had a point. It had always bothered her that it was expected she do as told without being so much as asked.

Regina leaned forward pressing her lips against Ruby’s ear, “I would say the lady doth protest too much.” The taller woman shivered and Regina took it as an excuse to pull her closer.

As they stood there pressed together, Ruby’s mind raced. Her body pulled her in one direction, having wanted just this for far too long. Having her hands settled on Regina’s waist, feeling her breath, their torsos pressed together and their faces inches apart was intoxicating. Her body ached with desire to lean forward and kiss Regina as she pressed her against the balcony. Taking her over and letting instinct rule them, but her mind wouldn’t quiet enough. 

On one hand this was Regina, the woman they had fought against for so long, the reason for their suffering. On the other this was _Regina_ , she wasn’t the Evil Queen. She was the woman who was willing to sacrifice everything to make up for her past, willing to let people believe she was a villain to find the truth. The woman who had given her a second chance at life. There was no doubt in Ruby’s mind how she had grown to feel about her, even if she had never voiced those feelings aloud. And rarely, except in the dark of night, accepted that they did in fact exist. Now, intertwined as they were she couldn’t help but think how long it had been since she had taken anyone to bed with her. She inhaled sharply trying to steady her mind, but only breathed in Regina’s scent.

“Fuck,” Ruby muttered.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Regina said letting her lips brush against the other woman’s cheek. “There’s no undoing this, you understand. But you can walk away now and we never have to speak of this night again. The glamour of course, you never knew who you were out here with.” She kissed the hollow beneath Ruby’s jaw, letting her tongue dart out and flick over the pulse point.

“It’s complicated,” she breathed heavily, her eyes fluttering shut.

“Life is complicated.” Regina bit down gently before continuing down Ruby’s neck. A small moan escaped Ruby’s lips.

“What I’m trying to say is that I’ve been on your side longer than you think. I just never knew how to say thank you.”

Regina pulled back, “How do you mean?”

“The curse.” Ruby opened her eyes, “You let me forget the horrible things I had done. It put things in perspective when I got my memories back. Not right away of course,” the words tumbled from her mouth and she couldn’t stop them. “I was angry, furious, devastated when I remembered that I had killed the man I loved, that I had killed my own mother. But you had given me family here in Storybrooke. You could have made us all miserable, but you didn’t. I don’t think you were as evil as everyone made you be. Good needed evil to be good.

“I think Mary Margaret and David and everyone else needed someone to fight against in those moments where another evil wasn’t present or we didn’t understand.” She tilted her head,  
“Then there was always that nagging question of why under the influence of the curse I wore those ridiculous clothes.” A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, “Until tonight I couldn’t puzzle out why, but I think I’m starting to understand.” Ruby took a deep breath, “SoIcameoutheretodothis.” 

She leaned forward, capturing Regina’s lips with hers. Her hands moved from Regina’s waist to behind her back, pressing their bodies closer yet, as if any distance were too much. She flicked her tongue against Regina’s lips asking for more. Regina flipped them around, pressing Ruby against the balcony railing, breaking the kiss.

“Wait,” she said, trailing fingers down the exposed skin of Ruby’s back. As her fingers brushed lower it felt like sparks were running over Ruby’s nerve endings and through her veins. Ruby’s knees buckled and Regina caught her. “You’re forgiving me, for cursing you?”

“No. Well, yes?” Ruby puzzled. With Regina’s hands pressed to her sides thinking was difficult. “It wasn’t right the way everyone rallied against you. I should have spoken up sooner.” She ducked her head. 

“So, now you want to switch sides.”

“Yes? no. I mean.” She couldn’t think with Regina so close. All she wanted was to pull Regina tight against her and stop this conversation. It was so much easier to kiss, you didn’t have to wonder what the other person meant. You could feel it in them.

Regina placed a hand between them, making space. “Tell me what you do mean.” As much as she was pleased Ruby had followed her outside, she hadn’t expected this confession. This was more than she had imagined or hoped for. It was a delicious sort of revenge that she could never have planned. To watch Snow White’s wolf come to her, ask for her, then take her to bed, would throw so much into question for the prim girl. More than that though it gave her hope, though Regina tried not to dwell on that thought too much. Life would be so much easier if you liked the people you were supposed to like.

The younger woman swallowed, and bit her lip in thought. It was now or never and she was already in too deep. “I want you. I don’t want to have to feel ashamed for part of who I am. I don’t know if I believe in Mary Margaret’s version of good anymore. Tonight was supposed to tear down the barriers between the townsfolk. It’s only reinforced them. Tomorrow will go back to the way it was, and I don’t know if people will ever get over old grudges no matter how hard they pretend. I’m tired of standing against some of things – the people, I believe in.”

There, she had said it. There was no going back.

For a long moment Regina watched Ruby, waiting for her to recant. She was unused to people choosing her side, especially as of late. Most only wanted her around when she was acting in their favor. The werewolf burned against her, lighting her up. Ruby had been right, for a long time Regina had wanted her, but it had, until tonight, been nothing but a fancy. She grabbed Ruby’s chin tightly between her thumb and forefinger, turning the werewolf’s face back and forth, searching for a hint of a lie, a trap. Finding none she pulled her in for a bruising kiss. Her tongue brushed against Ruby’s lips, demanding entrance. She tasted sweet and warm.

Her hands worked over every inch of bare skin, fingers leaving lines of burning desire and making the other woman shiver. Her tongue plunged into Ruby’s mouth, alternating with teeth grazing her lips and biting down gently, leaving them both breathless. Her hands slipped over the slick fabric of the ballroom gown, reaching for purchase, pulling them together. It wasn’t close enough. Regina wanted skin against skin. She continued a line of open mouth kisses down Ruby’s neck, her teeth grazing skin. She only stopped at the high neckline of the gown. 

Ruby’s fingers tangled in Regina’s hair, pulling her face back up to kiss her again. In that kiss was the clarity she had searched for all evening. Her mind was calm, focused. The women beneath her touch was exactly who she knew her to be: a gorgeous, fiery, dark beauty. She smelled like roses and sex, and the sounds she made were undeniably Regina. The singularity of it all made her smile. 

“This is inconvenient,” Regina hooked a finger under the collar of the dress, her lips were slightly parted. A glimmer of something dark and carnal played across her face. “Turn around.”

Without waiting for a response she spun Ruby around so she faced out over the balcony. The shawl fell to the ground with the sudden movement and the cold night air pricked at their heated flesh. Regina continued her descent down Ruby’s body nipping at the skin with teeth, and leaving small marks, some that would still be there come morning. She counted each vertebrae, leaving a trail of kisses as she did so. Her fingers traced the low cut V of the dress. Her nails leaving red scratches as she tried to slide her fingers underneath the edge of the fabric.

“What is this? Painted on?”

Ruby laughed, “It might as well be.” The laugh turned into a moan as Regina slid a hand over her hip and between her legs, cupping her through the layers of fabric. Her fingers scrunched and reached working to pull the ridiculous length of skirt up with one hand. Cold air rushed against Ruby’s legs and she gasped. It brought her back down from the frenzied high, but only for a moment. The party inside was a muffled pulse behind them, out here, exposed, they were alone, but together, and oh so alive. 

Regina placed a hand on Ruby’s shoulder, pushing her forward, bending her over the balcony. Ruby made a small sound, pulling against the restraint, but not wanting to escape. Regina tangled one hand in Ruby’s hair, and the other buried between the taller woman’s legs, her fingers brushing against the already damp fabric of Ruby’s panties. Her hips ground against Ruby’s as she pressed closer. Regina pressed her torso against the length of Ruby’s back and turned the werewolf’s head so she could steal another kiss.

A high pitched giggle caused the two to freeze in place. Regina glanced over her shoulder, watching Snow White and her Prince Charming stumble out of the hall and onto the balcony, their attention on each other. David muttered something about how he would always find Mary Margaret.

The mayor stood up straight. Her hand still holding firm to Ruby’s hair she pulled the other woman up as well. Ruby’s eyes were heavy lidded and her lips parted. In the back of her mind she wished Regina would never let go. 

“Oh, my god! I’m sorry, we didn’t know that anybody– Regina?!” After a long pause, “Ruby?” Mary Margaret turned scarlet. She tried to not look, but couldn’t tear her eyes away from the disheveled pair.

“How can we see who you are?” David found his voice.

Only managing to just turn her head, Ruby caught Mary Margaret’s gaze. For the first time in a long time something in her life felt right, but the look of confusion and betrayal on Mary Margaret’s face still stung. She shook her head, letting Regina’s grip in her hair pull. With the pain came a certain clarity, she let it pull her from the heated haze she had slipped into. Her loyalty to Mary Margaret, while having once saved her, had kept her from following her heart. People were not so easily divided into black and white, good and evil. She leaned back against Regina. She was where she wanted to be, where she had decided to stand.

“The glamour doesn’t work out here. We can see things for what they really are.” She let her head loll on Regina’s shoulder, almost possessively despite her submissive position. It was a decided declaration of loyalty.

Mary Margaret opened her mouth a closed it again without speaking, distraught. Without another word she pulled David back into the hall. Regina let out a throaty laugh. “The little wolf has teeth.” 

Regina felt a drop of warmth hit her shoulder, a tear. She let her hand fall from beneath the taller woman’s skirt and turned her around. Ruby bit her lip, trying to still the tidal wave of emotions running through her. For better or worse she had made her own decision on where to stand. She flung her arms around Regina, burying her face in the crook of the other woman’s neck, trying to burn the look on Mary Margaret’s face from her memory. She placed a kiss where the tear had fallen, then another higher up, and another, until pressing their lips together.

Fingers intertwined in hair, hands pulling each other closer. Ruby wrapped her hands around the other woman’s back trying to bring them tighter together as if she could crawl inside Regina, warm and safe. She kissed like kisses were air and she had been holding her breath her whole life until that moment. And maybe she had. It was rare she made a decision for herself that wasn’t at the benefit of someone else. Their hips pressed together, desperate for more. Between them the line of heat threatened to burn them up. The night air had grown colder, freezing their skin where they didn’t touch.

Regina held Ruby’s face in her hands, holding her close, keeping her in place. Her eyes closed, savoring the taste of the other woman. She wanted to take the werewolf and strip her down, feel her come alive beneath her hands. It wasn’t every day that someone chose her. The magic had allowed them to see what was between them when they were stripped of knowing the other person. Following her intuition Ruby had sought out Regina, known her for who she really was. And when confronted with the decision she had chosen to stay. The magic hadn’t been made for this, or maybe it had. Mary Margaret and her ragtag band of heroes had wanted to show that everyone in Storybrooke was good and that really we were all on the same page and in this together. Some optimistic hope that if were able to look at each other without harboring our assumptions and opinions of each other that maybe we could work past the divisive lines that we had made. Good and evil, black and white. The idea was to bring people together.

Ruby broke the kiss and leaned her forehead against Regina’s, blinking back tears and a choking sob. Regina pulled back, watching the other woman fight for control. The same woman who had only moments before stood strong and made her own choice to follow her heart. She hooked a finger under Ruby’s chin and lifted it so they were eye to eye, “None of this, you’re mine now.”

The werewolf’s eyes flashed yellow, tears still clinging to her lashes, but she managed a smile, biting her lip and pushing aside her sorrow. There would be time for that later, once she was thoroughly reminded about what made her happy. “Let’s go somewhere warm.” She tugged at the other woman’s bodice, “Where we won’t need these.”


End file.
